TELUS World of Science-Edmonton Offers Your "Last Chance" in Canada to See STAR WARS™ Identities: The Exhibition

EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Nov. 22, 2012) - Is The Force strong with Edmonton? It appears so. This western Canadian city known for its sprawling West Edmonton Mall and an equally enormous river valley (22 times the size of New York's Central Park) was one of only two cities in all of North America to win the bid for STAR WARS™ Identities: The Exhibition.

STAR WARS™ Identities:The Exhibition is a truly out-of-this-world interactive exhibition appearing October 27, 2012 through to April 1, 2013 in the impressive TELUS World of Science-Edmonton. Like the science fiction franchise that inspired it, this interactive exhibition is huge. It includes 200 props, artwork, and original pieces from the Lucasfilm archives. In fact, it took 10 semi-trucks to move the artifacts and staging in, according to Mike Steger, director of marketing and communications with TELUS World of Science-Edmonton. The exhibition is visually stunning, of course - a sci-fi feast of sights and sounds - but the bigger deal is what children and parents will learn as they walk through it.

"It uses the characters from Stars Wars - particularly Anakin and Luke - as teaching tools," says Steger. The props and the particularly powerful video clips from the movies deliver the message.

As you go through exhibit, there are three main areas: origins, influences and choices. The exhibit teaches you how these three areas help develop your identity.

"Genetics, psychology, neuropsychology make you who you are. But to make it fun, how we're going to show this is through the universe of Star Wars," says Jacques-Andre Dupont, president of Montreal's X3 Productions and producer of the exhibit.

"It's entertaining, fun, and there's the glitz and glamour of Hollywood," adds Steger.

In fact, it's sort of like seeing the Star Wars movies for the very first time - with the added thrill of actually being in them. Before you enter, you are given a radio with an earpiece and a wrist-band that allows you to interact with what you will see.

As you walk through the 10,000 square foot exhibit, you learn about Origins (genetics, culture, and family), Influences (mentors and friends) and Choices. In the Choices station, you are given a series of questions about how you would react to a specific hypothetical event in the Star Wars universe. Making the whole experience especially exciting, your wrist-band triggers various audio and video experiences that offer more explanations of the artifacts you're seeing.

To say that the artifacts in this exhibit are incredibly cool is an understatement. Straight from the Lucasfilm Archives, you will see original Stormtrooper helmets from the Episode IV: A New Hope and Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. There is also a display of Yoda, including the very first concept drawings of this mythic character. "The Millennium Falcon is my favourite artifact," says Steger. "To see some of the models from the movies is really exciting, but this one especially!"

Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) provides leadership in economic development, markets Edmonton as a must-see destination, manages the Shaw Conference Centre and Edmonton Research Park, and acts as a stakeholder in TEC Edmonton, a joint venture with the University of Alberta. For more information, visit www.edmonton.com Learn more about Edmonton through the stories of people who've experienced it at www.edmontonstories.ca